why T-mac taking all these long-ranged difficult shots?

OK, I'm going out on a limb here, because I know he's gonna be flamed, but I do think he has some valid points. T-Mac needs to take it to the hole more, as well as everybody else. Don't get me wrong, he's my favorite player and the first one I'd take on my team, but he should realize that he will get the calls if he penetrates.

 

because he's seriously injured right now

 

He's trigger happy from the arc.

in 00-01 he took over 10 shots inside line for every 3pter he attempted.

that statistic last year?

Less that 4 shots inside the arc for every 3pter attempted.

 

He takes the outside shot because the Rockets need to establish an outside offensive threat.

Defenses are clogging the lane, making it difficult to get the ball to Yao, difficult to do the pick-and-roll from the top, and difficult to drive into the lane and attack the basket.

We need to establish a perimeter threat with our gaurds to spread the defense, and then we can successfully use our inside-out strategy.

(does it sound like I'm repeating myself?)

 

He has attempted over 400 3pters each of the last 3 seasons.

Drexler only attempted 400+ 3s once his entire career. Wilkins attempted more than 300 once, and Jordan never even took that many. Bryant had a career high in 3pt shots last year, still didnt reach the 400 mark.

In this day and age of basketball, where rules favor guards that can attack the basket, Tracy needs to step up. He can blow by any man that guards him, and if they try to slow him down, the whistles will sound.

 

WTF. Little sore? How do u know he feels just a little sore. He's seriously injured and how many games has he played since he recovered from the injury. He's not superman and he needs time. So who are u? Comparing yourself to top athlete of the world? Yeah someone should call 911 for u.... not for physical injury but mental illness.

 

That works if our guards sink outside shots (which they aren't).

So, what defenses are doing is crowding around Yao and the paint, preventing Yao from getting the ball and preventing T-Mac and the power-forwards from driving it in.

This is evident in the way that Swift has only gotten a dunk or two each game - he's been forced to shoot from the outside (which he can't do, because he has no range). Juwan has been more affective because he has better range than Swift.

More evidence: we've struggled on rebounding. This is because the defense already has a bunch of people in the lane waiting to get rebounds.

Forcing it in is not the answer right now. Yao has established himself as a danger in the paint. We need to establish a danger from the perimieter.

I am not repeating myself.
I am not repeating myself.
I am not repeating myself.
I am not repeating myself.
I am not repeating myself.

 

if tmac does not play through the pain

*snaps pencil in half*

he will be sorry.

 

I think Bill Walton was making the same comment about Tmac taking those tough shots, if that holds any weight.

 

Hmm, maybe his history of back problems has something to do with it? The fact that a hard hit could aggrevate his back has probably been in the back of his mind for years now.

Now is the absolute dumbest time to complain about Tmac not going to the basket. We have all seen how bad this team is without him, and now everyone wants to complain about his attempts to preserve his body and health?

I could understand if this complaint came last year, when he seemed to be over the back problem, but now it is quite clear that it is still an issue. You could argue that if a player is a true warrior he would go to the basket without regard for his own safety, but with Tmac being as fragile as he is, that would be a sure recipe for a lottery pick.

His self-preserving tendencies won us 51 games last year. He got us to a decent seed for the playoffs. He played balls-out in the playoffs and almost carried us to victory, and that included attacking the rim.

Right now, our team is a hard foul away from the lottery.

 

I really cant believe u so call fans questioning T-mac effort and heart. He is our scorer, play maker, rebounder and defender. He's asked to be a superman in our team. He trained too hard in the summer. He came back too early from the injuries. And now u r questioning his drive as a player? Of course I hope he would drive to the basket more if possible. But I dont know about u I got nervous every time he drove hard to the basket and came down hard. If he re-injures himself now, we are running for #1 draft pick next year. I understand if these complaints are from so call experts or fans of other teams, but from the rocket fans? What a joke.

 

There's no excuse for him not to dirve. He doesn't have to go all the way, maybe kick out. He's a 100X better when he's driving rather than just jacking up shots. I know he's injured and all, but he can still get by his defender without going through too much pain i'm sure. He doesn't have to just dunk on somebody, maybe a tear drop, off the glass, it shouldn't be this hard. urghH!!!! this is a mad rockets fan

 

Sorry man, but please stop with the crying(HE HAS NO HEART!!!!!!)

 

I've had a pinched nerve in my back and let me tell you, it's no freaking picknick. it's like someone is stabbing you with a hige butcher knife right in you're back. just thinking how tracy manages to endure all the physical punishments with that back is amazing.


BTW, dont you love arm chair critics who have no clue about anything?. we can sit infron of a TV set and nit pick all we like, but to question T-MAC's heart, is beyond stupid. i like to see you play through a injury of that kind.

 

We know this because that is what he said. If he's lying about the severity of his injury and trying to jeapordize his career in the first 20 games of the season then thats another thing. However I highly doubt he is doing this.

Secondly, you cannot deny the fact that TMac overshoots the 3 point shot. Defenses realize this and they start to collapse on him at the arc. Why do you think in the SA game on TNT he was taking ridiculous 3 point shots over defenders. Sure he'll make some but in the long run itll make his field goal percentage drop quicker than Bush's approval rating. That's why his FG % won't ever be as high as kobe, jordan or any of the other great swingmen to play the game. Don't get me wrong TMac is one of the top 5 most talented ball players in the world right now but he's just not aggressive enough. Anyone ever notice that Kobe, DWade all work 10 times harder for their shots? They split defenses, draw the contact, and are alot more relentless around the basket. Tmac's scoring looks so much more effortless and alot of times it is because of the amount jumpshots he takes. Maybe it is because he's afraid for his back but this has been a consistent statistic throughout his career even when he wasn't plagued with back injuries. Tmac has to penetrate more to bring this team back to life and thats the bottom line.

 

Maybe he just can't get around the defender in his current state. If you watched the memphis game, he was clearly not moving well, on both offense in defense. He had a pretty good defender guarding him as well.